1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the formation of a thin evaporated layer upon the surface of a substrate member.
More specifically, an apparatus is described for constraining a substrate member in a vacuum evaporation system without detrimentally affecting the formation of a thin evaporated layer.
A novel means of constraining the substrate member is described.
2. Description of Prior Art
The prior art is limited to a carousel type substrate carrier assembly for restraining a substrate member about its central axis such that the substrate member will rotate about this central axis. This carousel type of substrate carrier assembly is utilizable in temporarily mounting a substrate member into a vacuum evaporation system.
Anyone skilled in the art of forming a thin evaporated layer on a substrate member will know that, in the past, where a comparatively large substrate was to be coated with a thin evaporated film, the substrate member was placed in the vacuum evaporation system in a stationary manner with the side of the substrate member to be coated face down. Achieving a consistent film thickness over the face of a comparativly large substrate was virtually impossible due to the dispersion characteristics of a vacuum evaporated layer. Additionally, a substrate clamp, used to hold the substrate to the carrier assembly, interferes with the uniform evaporation of the metal on the substrate surface. This interference is commonly known as the shadow effect.